Dear Ones,
Happy Weekend to you! What fun we are having with family here in N.C. We played so many games with the grandkids after arriving yesterday and they help us feel young! Al was so happy to have time with Mark this morning at Panera and Andrea and I had our own time catching up together at home before the 4 of us went out for lunch. Tomorrow rain is expected but I’m sure we will find plenty to do together as the grandkids will not have school. They are fortunate to go to Christian school which has been able to meet all year. 
Devotions from Judy’s heart
While riding in the car on our trip to North Carolina I read a book by Pastor John Piper called The Dangerous Duty of Delight. His title rather perked my interest as he wrote about maximizing our joy in the Lord. I love the scripture from Psalm 37:4 (ESV), “Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desire of your heart.” I thought about what it means to pursue joy and delight in the Lord; and in case I didn’t really understand that, King David also said in Psalm 16:11, “You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” I believe the Lord wants us to enjoy Him, to actually pursue joy in Him, and maybe we settle for so much less. I love to observe our grandchildren who have a zest for life and glad they like to spend time with grandpa Al and me. We are in North Carolina now and busy enjoying time with them playing games outdoors and indoors, singing silly songs, winning prizes and ending the night with prayers. We love that they like to be with us and it gives us great pleasure. But then, think how it pleases the Lord when we don’t just seek to obey Him but really enjoy time with Him and savor what He has to say to us.  I learned in our catechism how God created us so we might spend eternity glorifying Him and enjoying Him forever. Pastor Piper wrote that pursing joy in God and praising God are not separate acts. The essence of worship is joy in the Lord. When you think of it, we are going to spend all eternity with Him and enjoy Him forever more so let us pursue joy in Him now. We are to delight in Him and praise that follows and seems to complete our joy.  There are of course, times we don’t feel joyful in obedience to Him as we want our own way. At such times we can confess that to Him and pray for joy of obedience to follow. Let us be greatly satisfied in the Lord, enjoying Him, and let His love overflow in us and then out to others.
Challenge for today: Seek to enjoy the Lord and express in new ways today.
Blessings on your weekend and prayers and love, Judy